Visitors to the Zunyi Hospital at Weifang High-Tech Industrial Development Zone may notice a plaque engraved "Shandong provincial intangible cultural heritage" among a bunch of honors hung on a wall in the facility.

The hospital's specialty — Huatuan Bone Setting — has been recognized as an intangible cultural heritage item and become a brand in the treatment of bone injuries.

Created in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) by the Luan family in the village of Huatuan in the town of Shuangyang, in Hanting district, the Huatuan Bone Setting style features both a bone-setting technique and a plaster invented by the family.

It is reported that the Luan family started treating bone injuries for villagers after they moved to the village during the Yongle period (1403-1424) of the Ming Dynasty and enjoyed a widespread reputation. However, the family stopped the treatments due to wars and famine.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Luan Jingxuan resumed the family's bone-setting technique to aid villagers who had suffered bone injuries.

Luan also created an herbal plaster that helps patients recover from bone injuries in a short time. With the bone-setting technique passed down from his predecessors and the plaster, Luan created the Huatuan Bone Setting brand.

Luan Tongcheng, the son of Luan Jingxuan, inherited his father's recipe and treated many soldiers during World War II.

Descendants of the Luan family continue to enrich the treatment. Luan Zhangzhi, who started practicing medicine at the age of 11 with his father Luan Tongcheng, created fumigation and steaming therapies for bone illnesses.

In 2000, Luan Zunyi, a fourth generation member of the family, developed a series of herbal medicines for washing wounds.

The Luan family plaster has earned a number of honors including a national intellectual property patent, a gold award from the Hong Kong Science and Technology Exposition and a scientific advancement award from Weifang.

After cooperating with a hospital in Hanting district, Luan Zunyi moved to the Weifang High-Tech Industrial Development Zone in 2004 and built an 8,000-squaremeter hospital, which has been expanded to 12,000 sq m. The Zunyi Hospital now integrates scientific research, medical treatment and rehabilitation.

During the past eight years, the hospital has also donated more than 100,000 yuan ($15,210) to areas that have suffered from natural disasters.

A patient receives treatment at Zunyi Hospital in the high-tech zone. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]